There is nothing for making a word stick in your head like stumbling upon one in a sentence and knowing, just by the sight of it, that you just have to have that word! It’s a word that rolls around your mouth and tickles your brain.

Here’s one for you - goupillon /goop ee yon/.

Now does that look french? Everything about it looks like a child’s made up word. Or maybe that is just so to english speaking ears that grew up with the words gooey and goopy.

So I grabbed my handy dandy Robert Dictionary for ages 8 -11 and had a look. Sure enough there it was.

1st definition: a metal globe with small holes, mounted on a handle that is used to sprinkle holy water. For the more sophisticated, this is also called an asperges.

2nd definition: a bottle brush.

At first glance this seemed ridiculous. What could possibly be the connection between a holy gesture of sacrament and the act of squooshing out a dirty bottle? But as I shared the new word with Tom I found myself shaking that imaginary bottle brush and saw the little droplets of dishwater flying through the air and.... JesusMaryandJoseph Ah ha!

Tom was not impressed with my new word. When in the heck would I be talking about bottle brushes or holy water sprinklers. “Honey, while you’re out, be sure to pick up some bottle brushes, and if you run into Father Jean St. Etienne Pierre de Dieu be sure to ask if he can bring his jewel-encrusted sprinkler to Sunday dinner.”

So imagine my delight when I unwrapped that weeks New Yorker and looked at the lively cover. “Tom, Tom, look look there is a goupillon on the cover of The New Yorker!”

ps I promise I did not add that bottle brush to the picture. For the life of me I cannot make any connection to that bottle brush and the scene around it. If you can make that connection please let me know.

pps Dear New Yorker please do not throw me in the hoosegow for using this image...and thank you to the artist as well.